The Department of Justice of the Hong Kong government on Friday released the Action Plan on the Construction of Rule of Law in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) to set forth the guiding principle.
Paul Lam, secretary for justice of the HKSAR government, said that there are two key features in the action plan, which are underpinning the guiding principle of “Three Interfaces, Two Connects and One GBA”, and strengthening collaboration with the legal and dispute resolution sectors and other stakeholders to effectively implement the various policy measures set out in the action plan.
As for the specific measures under the “Three Interfaces”, Lam said that in relation to the interface of mechanisms, the department will not only continue to make good use of the mechanisms already established with relevant ministries and stakeholders in the GBA, but will also proactively promote the establishment of a high-level GBA standing interface platform jointly with the country’s Supreme People’s Court to take forward the practical and research work on judicial and legal matters relating to the GBA.
On the interface of regulatory frameworks, the department has been taking steps to expand the scope of application of the measures “allowing Hong Kong-invested enterprises to adopt Hong Kong law” and “allowing Hong Kong-invested enterprises to choose for arbitration to be seated in Hong Kong”. The department will also promote the formulation of the best practices of GBA non-litigation dispute resolution rules.
Lam said that the department will take action as a means and adopt a result-oriented approach to pursue in a pragmatic spirit the implementation of the action plan, with a view to contributing to the construction of the rule of law in the GBA with concrete results.
